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| Hiking | 5.99 Miles |
760 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.99 Miles | 2 Hrs 14 Mns | | 2.68 mph |
| 760 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | I always enjoy a puzzle and this mountain park is certainly perplexing. There are 20 trails (in HAZ) that deal with this mountain range and for almost all of them you will want a downloaded route if you want to stay on the described trail. The park map and trail signs provide almost no support and the number of use trails muddles the system almost beyond recognition. Sounds like fun. My thought today, was to do the Social Red Trail and whatever else came my way.
I got to the park around 5:30, just as sunlight was starting to brighten the sky. I decided to start exploring the park by taking the most eastern trail that left the TH. This was obviously not an “authorized” trail, but it got enough action to stand out from the desert landscape. I was pleasantly surprised. This trail, though very rocky, was a solid single track trail that went on for almost 3.5 miles. It had a couple of options that allowed you to tie into maintained trails and there were also a couple of times where the trail gave you an option to take a bridge over a wash or go around the bridge. The trail did a ridiculous amount of back and forth. I probably touched all four points of the compass a dozen times. I did retrace my steps a few times as I figured out what the trail was doing, but in the 4 miles that I was on the trail I never left the valley….. and it was a small valley. As the trail neared its end, it started to gain some elevation off of one of the slopes and I encountered a series of ramps. Up until this time I thought this was a great trail going either direction, but this development pretty much mandated the trail be done south to north, especially if you were biking. This trail connects to the Red Social Trail at two different points. One point had two different trail options: a beginners trail with several switchbacks and an advanced trail that involved a couple of the ramps. .02 miles up the Red Social Trail was a third option to get on this trail, but it was an option for the insane (biker). It involved going down a series of steep rocks and then connecting to the ramps. Not bad for hiking, but I can’t imagine doing it on a bike.
Once I reached the Social Red Trail, I followed one of the many roads for a short time, before taking the “Red” trail back towards the TH. It was a pretty straight shot back towards the TH, (especially considering what I came in on). Nice trail, definitely much smoother than the trail I took in. There were three maintained trails that branches off it (and a couple of use trails), but none of the trails were signed. If I hadn’t downloaded the route, I would have had no idea that I was hiking the Social Red Trail.
I love exploring new trails. No idea what I might find. Today was definitely a nice surprise and I’m thinking more of the “use” trail I took in than the “Red” trail I took back. Weather was perfect. Temps in the 60’s to start. No wildlife. Saw a few people hiking on nearby trails, but only encountered one biker on the trail I was on. |
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Route Editor
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